SAO: Another Side
by Dogless
Summary: A group of boys join the world of Sword Art Online, they will face the consequence. Will have characters from the original story but mainly focused on OCs, first fic.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Side A:

"So chances of this game being total shit?", he asked me, "well Danny-boy I understand that the last MMO we played wasn't exactly..." "anywhere close to good" he interrupts me.

"Not what I was gonna say.." I sigh. We were getting back from a convince store to play the all new Japanese MMO Sword Art Online or SAO for short. Daniel steps in front of me, facing me "unfortunately Zachary it was complete crap or would you rather I call you Dark-bolt?". I begin to look to the ground "please I was eleven don't call me that" I beg. He lifts his arms "sure but you owe me" why am I friends with this guy? We continued down the road eventually separating " I'll meet you in the town of beginnings!" I'd be waiting for him most likely, he still had ten minutes of walking to do.

So I walked up to my house walked into my room, threw my bag onto my bed. I then put it in the chair remembering that I'd be laying down put the NerveGear on. I got ready and logged in.

I did not expect this amount of people, I should have, but I didn't , "how am I to find Daniel in this?" I say to myself, depressed at the amount of people I saw. "I did say I'd meet him here," but then again if I could be a higher level than him... Well I'm sure there'll be a launch day meeting today in the starting square, I thought (correctly) so I ran off. Around two hours into my play time I started to think it might've been better to wait, I was only level 3 now "do I suck?"

"Probably" I hear a familiar voice, not Daniel, but "oh look its Kaden," a guy from school that I befriended (regrettably) " uh no here it's Wildstar!" "lovely," he got up from the ground "and apparently here you're.. Takuto?" he looked as if I had the weird name. He shook his head "well listen I've been watching you solo for a while now," creep, "and I think we should party up, you'd do better if I was around," I'm so sure," I mean I am a whole 2 levels ahead of you". Well that was true.. _"Hello SAO players, come to the Town of Beginnings for a special launch party announcement" _I hear across the in game world. "Suppose we'll have to wait for that whole party thing 'WildStar'," I say ever so smugly, he smiles,"ha yeah I'll show you the ropes once your ready,"

Walking into the town of beginnings I wonder how many of these people actually look like their in-game avatar, I bet a lot of them took liberties especially with all the female avatars walking around.

We continue our slow journey towards the center of the town "way to many people are taking this route" if I could fly I would... but I imagine everyone would do that. Wildstar had already taken off to hit on some guild entirely made of females "please don't let this work out for him" I cross my fingers.

A conversation starts with me and some other people about what they want to do here "well I'd like to join a huge guild and over power everything," one says, " I'd rather start up a blacksmith shop and supply adventurers," this immediately starts another conversation about how lame that sounds " I don't think it sounds lame, blacksmiths need to get materials and they're the only ones who can use those materials, right?" I shoot out. "What about you Takuto?" well I never thought about it "well I think I'd like to find my friend and level up, oh we could start a guild, that'd be cool, I could start up a shop..." I continue to ramble on knowing that if Daniel were here he'd have hit me head and silenced me quickly.

Eventually we all split up to find our friends, a couple of them add each other to their friends list. The blacksmith thanks me for standing up for her idea, she says that once she has a shop set up she'll make me something for free, I smile at her and take my leave. I shift through the mounds of people, calling out Daniels name.

"_Attention SAO players I have an announcement..." _

Once he's finished telling us what this games about, there's mass panic, pushing shoving. It's not gonna help I say as I'm pushed down by a rather large women. "Ow," I barely make out as she lifts her foot off me, "Takuto!" Kaden, oh great just what I need, " I'm over here" I decided I'm gonna need all the friends I can get. " Come on we're gonna need to get experience before all the enemies are wiped out," wait they don't respawn?

That's why there's so many people running, "damn it" we run to the open fields. I should look for the blacksmith, I should look for Daniel, I shouldn't just think about myself. But I can't I need to make sure I can live and help them all when I do see them next, till then they'll have to live on their own strength.

Side B

"Zach must've gone off on his own to level up..." I would be angry but I would've done the same, I run off into the flied to raise my own level. A few swings of my sword defeated my first opponent, "Haha I could take on a dozen of these!" I felt good about my victory, indulging in some post win banter with the other wolf that had its eyes set on me. I quickly vanquished my second first floor animal, before I could start on a larger one my arm was grabbed. "Woah big boy, that's kind of a group effort," I sneer "I can take him!" I inform thie oaf who does he think he is. "Sure, sure no doubt, but how bout we don't I'm sure there's a group coming, and I'm sure they wouldn't be happy with someone as grand as you stealing the XP." He has a point, I'd have to deal with them arguing with me, it may be more work then I want to deal with, I sheath my sword and walk away. "Hey!" I turn to to face the noise, "you're welcome names Agil," I turn and continue down the path I was on, "Akira."

I found myself walking towards the town center a hour later, " I hate people sometimes" there's a lot of pushing on the way, You'd think the designers would've seen this coming. Someone grabs my shoulder, I shift my head "Ben?" " Haha yeah decided I would get this game, wheres Zach?" Ben's not usually down for a MMO but I guess Zachs begging and maybe a bit of my own convinced him. " I actually don't know myself I Imagine it won't be long till we hear from him." Ben's using his real name, should be easy enough for Zach to find him, " Whattya think this meetings about? " I actually don't think Ben has played more than 2 hours of a free to play, "well think of it less of meeting and more of a gathering, less formal, probably just to welcome us."

"Oh what a welcome, huh?" Ben was being kind of a sarcastic jerk, "really? we were just sentenced to our death and you're making jokes?" I counter. "It's what Zach would be doing, but he could and may as well be dead if he was alone in the fields," "he's not an total idiot Ben, he wouldn't bite off more than he could chew even before we knew the consequences." That brought me back to before, I could've died if it weren't for that guy that stopped me "bagel?, eggil?," I say under my breath. "Hmm?" Ben looks at me quizzically, "nothing lets just get out of here, before we're left behind," I order, we sit up and exit the alley we were occupying. "And where are we going?," Ben passive aggressively questions, "there's a town close to here, most likely ripe with Xp granting quests, along with the boss, anymore dumb questions noob?" " Only one... are we gonna die?" I start running towards the town gates.

No Ben we'll live, you, Zach, and I, I'm gonna make sure of that, to those who stand in our way " I'll kill you all."


	2. Chapter 2

**First of all thanks to ItJustGotReal for the review, please if you do end up reading give me a review whether its **negative** or positive, it'd be awesome if you could. Other than that bit onto the next chapter, hazzaaaaaa!**

Chapter Two:

Side A:

It's been a whole two weeks and I've been at a loss of things to do, I can't level efficiently since the first floor sword fodder don't give out much experience points, even so I made it to level 13. " Uh, Zach?" I grunt, "what are you doing?" Wildstar was now right in front of my face blocking my view. " Well Bucky I've heard of a girl that tamed a NPC enemy," the look he gives is at least thirty percent more confused now. " So the best way to do that, tame a wild animal, is to hold a fishing rod and hope a wolf bites the meat on the hook, then pray it doesn't attempt to kill you when you pull the rod?" I suppose this did look mildly ridiculous, " The rumors didn't say how she tamed it." There's a bit of silence, before he attempts to formulate a sentence before huffing and walking away, leaving me by myself."

Side B:

Three weeks later, no sign of Zach, Ben continues to ask stupid questions, and my level progression has all but stopped, my priorities are clear, find and kill the boss, find Zach and make our way to the second floor. We had made it to the second town, Tolbana with relative ease and collectively we have one hundred gold, I would cry but Ben had spent sixty of our gold on food, my anger has kept any semblance of self pity far from my mind. I decided to go back out into the fields and Ben said he would look around town asking if residents had seen Zach. Slowly making my way to the gates I saw a member of the information guild, I walked up to him. " Ah you seek info, I may know a thing or two, should you have the right amount of gold," I know I'll regret asking this, " yeah, yeah how much?" He eyes my armor and opens his mouth, "listen buddy I get it, you're looking for a friend, but I'm looking for a living, and with that armor I doubt you'll be able to get me what I want."

I grabbed him by his hood and lifted him up, "listen bucko, I am looking for a friend," he lifts his hand to point to some members of the army ready to push me out into the near by fields. " Wouldn't do anything reckless with them around," he starts to nervously laughs, I put him down. I walk away defeated, he calls " who're you looking for?" I describe Zach, and he nods "you owe me," and then he walks off. I walk out of the town and attempt to farm the small number of wolves left, the sun sets.

After night fall I return to the hotel that Ben and I reside in for the time being, "anything?" I ask him, "no," he looks down, "he could be any of those blacked out names on the player board." I shake my head "no he's still alive, we are," Ben gives a weak smile and turns on his bed as I get on mine,

"g' night."

Side A:

The sun set quicker than I'm used to, "guess there's winter here too," I get ready to pack up my rod and meat, "that was a huge waste of time." Now I'm talking to myself that's just great, I start on my way back to Tolbana noticing the relative emptiness of the fields. Out the corner of my ear I hear a slightly aggressive voice " hey what're you doing here?" I turn to see Tetsuo, a member of a newly formed guild, "just leaving." He doesn't seemed pleased with the answer "no I meant with the fishing rod, not much water around here," he tone brightens. " Heard about the girl who got a pet, thought I'd try," I motion to the empty space around me "as you can see very successful," he laughs, "yeah, well listen Takuto, I've heard about this mid level dungeon, a couple of guilds are gonna scout it out in two days, you and your buddy should come." I look back to my rod and nod, " Well it'd be better than wasting my time with this." I get to the inn about sun rise, I'm tired and hit the bed with a loud thump, the last thing I hear is Wildstar yelling at me to be more considerate, I'm paying for the room jerk.

Side B:

Ben shakes me awake, "there's a update on Zach," I get up and throw my armor back on, "which would be," he's was spotted in the town of beginnings a week ago." Oh great, a week ago lots of good that's gonna do, "anything else?" He nods "he wasn't alone had a partner," a sigh of relief escapes my mouth "good we don't have to worry as much now." We finish getting geared up, "who told you about him?" Ben tells me that the information broker came the night before to tells us that a fellow guild member had told him, he also said he's done all he's willing to do for a favor, and we'd need to pay for anything more. " Well more than I expected from a member of the information guild that was willing to rat me out to some guards," we walk out of the inn and head to the market to find some fetch quests to do. "this one seems easy," Ben calls me over, "find three black wolf pelts." I sold my lot of them for the room fee and Ben only had two left. "alright lets go out." as we walk to the gates I see the broker smirk, " I'll be collecting that favor soon, Akira," waving him off, I run into the field. Ben and I make one heck of a team when we're actually doing something worthwhile, we defeat enough wolves to complete the quest three times over and Ben levels up. " Alright, alright, alright I could get used to this," that's good, it doesn't seem like this'll end anytime soon.

We hand in the quests and gain another one hundred gold, that makes two hundred, along with the money I have set aside for the inn and food. Ben buys a new pair of knuckles deciding he'd rather go unarmed, I grab my self some healing crystals and new chest piece. Ben tells me he wants to spend the rest of the day resting, we deserve it. " Haha three skips in a row, beat that Ben!" we skip some stones and never get past a high of 4, set by Ben. After skipping rocks we sit by the lake and guess how many more days we'll be stuck in this floor. Then someone taps me on the shoulder, a small girl, around my age is what I see, "hello, have you seen this man?" She gives me a picture of a man in knights clothing, "uh no sorry was I supposed to?" she looks a little worried at my tone, but more depressed by my answer. "well no but he's my brother, he's names Diavel, tell him his sisters looking for him, 'kay?' I nod and so does Ben and she goes on her merry way, "looks like everyone's looking for someone or something," I shrug at Ben's statement, "doesn't matter we have our own work to do."

Side A:

I wake up to a empty room, it's already 3:30, "well I slept in," getting up I see a recorded message pop into my inventory. It's from Wildstar telling me that he was going out to level with his new guild and would not be coming back, there's some names thrown out none of them don't mean anything to me. " Now I'm just a loner," I put my armor on and walk out of the room, "lets go make some friends." Daniel's still out somewhere, he would let himself die and I'm sure I'll find him eventually but I'll be needing a partner if I want to go to the dungeon tomorrow. After eating a quick breakfast I take a seat in the town square, " maybe they'll let me go alone, not like one extra person makes a difference." I'm sad I didn't bring up the dungeon raid last night, he might not have left if I did. " It's dangerous to go alone," a girl steps in front of me, I laugh a bit, it's true through higher risk even if I'm surrounded by parties.

"I imagine you're not stopping by to give a nineties reference," she shakes her head, " no sorry I've actually been looking for my older brother." Oh good someone else forgot to exchange in-game names and locals to meet up. She gives me a description and a name, Diavel, " I've actually heard his name before, but I can't quite remember," she give a hopeful look as I scratch my head. " Um, um ,ha-ha," think man, think, "it's okay if you don't actually know." She looks like she's gonna cry, she's maybe my age and way-way shorter( I'm kinda tall but still), she has better armor than me, and getting off topic. " Wait, I think my friend mentioned his name in his goodbye message," she perks up instantly.

I explained what happened and that he was part of a guild that invited Wildstar to their ranks, " so where are they now?" I tell the girl that I actually have no idea, " you're not very useful are you," I was gonna give a answer before realizing it wasn't a question. " I suppose you'll just have to help me look, my names Raia," she declares, " I don't know how you came to that conclusion, but I really have nothing better to do, the names Takuto, well not my real name but...," guess what you're rambling now. " Pleased to meet you Takuto!' she smiles, literally two seconds ago you said I was useless, " feelings mutual Raia," and with that she runs off motioning to follow her, which is definitely the best way to look for someone not asking anyone, oh no definitely not.

Side B:

It's about one-two hours before sunset and Ben and I have been doing just short of nothing for the whole day, " hey Daniel whats a sword skill?" lot of stupid questions too. " It's just a more powerful attack," he gives a acknowledging "ah," and we continue with silence for the entire way back from the lake. " So I hear there's gonna be a dungeon raid tomorrow," I tell Ben, who nods his head, "we should go, I bet that Zach would show up." He agrees with me and we talk game plans before making our way back to the inn, we walk into the small restaurant on the bottom of two floors. " What's the first thing you'll do when we finally get out of here?" he asks me after finishing his bun. It's a question that should help me cope, but it just gets depressing with 99 floors to go, " eat, eat whatever I want." Ben laughs, "yeah that sounds like a plan if I've ever heard one," usually there would be a insulting joke attached to that but I guess neither of us want to make fun of each other now.

We continued talking about things we would in real life, but before long we've slept and it's morning, I'm already prepared for the dungeon raid. " C'mon, we need to go," I impatiently say to Ben, " no we really don't I doubt it's starting for another," he checks the clock, a surprised look comes onto his face, "yeah lets go." We're running out the door after realizing the set time was three minutes ago, "there probably debrief, we're good," Ben used denial, it wasn't very effective. We make it to the meeting in a record breaking 3 minutes, and see the last bit of people leaving for the dungeon, "see debrief," shaking my head I speed up to the stragglers and follow them outside the town to the dungeon. We would've make it to said dungeon quicker, had we not run into maybe the last pack of thirty boars in existence, Ben yells out " our luck though!"

There was no sign of Zach, however we did find someone we knew, "oh boy it's him pointing to the player who insisted people call Wildstar." Ben just sighs, he dislikes him the most, being in the same class as the guy tends to wear you out. "S'up guys," now he's talking to us, "oh nothing much just y'know walking into our own deaths." He gives a jerk-ish smile " oh Danny boy, ever the pessimist!" he laughs usually loud attracting unwanted glances from other players, I put my head down. " Really what are you doing here," I turn back from shying away from the others stare, " I'm looking for Zach." 'Wildstar' then tells me that he just ditched Zach for this guild, slightly angered at his willingness to leave a friend, one that he met in real life, we walk into the boss room.

I was not prepared for this, a fat mammal named Iiifang the Kobald Lord quickly threw us into the rooms walls, I stood up and charged, halfway to him he summons three lackeys to stall me, barely managing to knock two away to single out the other, I use the vertical arc sword skill to vanquish the first minion. Ben comes to help take the other two, we have one each chasing us, I slide under him and he jumps over me, we both slash at our companions opponent and they explode into XP and gold.

" Okay yeah, that was kinda cool," Ben lets out, I see Wildstar run towards the boss, "get ready to be amazed!" he starts to charge a skill, before being abruptly stopped. Iiifangs blade ran him through, and I see my first player death, someone I really knew, I fall down as he turns into shining crystals. The other 15 people in the raid retreat as Ben pulls me and we run away as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**First part of this chapter takes place during the end of the last, wanted to get that out before I say anything else. Now I wanted to inform all that I am no longer working on this alone, my friend will be helping me with plotting, any and hopefully all continuity errors (such as the big one in the first chapter, sorry), and he'll generally help to make this story better in every way possible. One last thing, release isn't gonna be as close together as the first two chapters, that was a special case, thanks for reading this even if it got a little long. On to the chapter,hazaaaaa!**

Chapter 3:

**Side A:**

Eventually I caught up to Raia, and asked her how she planned to find her brother, " well you know that dungeon raid, I think he'd be there," I guess that's a good a lead as any, why she needs me I don't quite know. " So you're looking for someone too right?" I nod, "yeah a friend," we continued our walk in silence. We found ourselves in a empty town square, "what time did the meeting start?" I ask, " I dunno," she casually tells me. " So we missed it," I say aloud, " doesn't matter I think they'll be coming back about now." As soon as she finishes her sentence there's a medium sized group coming into the square, " do you have some super power or..." She runs to someone who I assume is her brother, when I walk over to them I hear from the passersby "we should've brought more people, that guy died," and " we couldn't have known it would be like that, that boss could be the final one of this floor." Somebody died, somebody isn't coming back, I guess I'm a little relieved that I didn't go, I approach the siblings, "hey." She introduces us, I was right it was her brother, he thanks me for helping his sister, "well I can't say I did all that much but I guess I'm happy I could help."

After a brief reunion he pulls me away as his Raia chats with a another female player, " Takuto, I need to ask you a favor." He literally has me against the wall, I give sheepish smile " and that would be?" He tells me that he wants me to distract his sister for a week until they set up another raid. " Why," I shake myself off the wall, " because she would be a distraction for when we're planning the next raid." I guess my role in this is glorified babysitter. " Alright, but I get to go to this next raid," he smiles, " we're gonna need all the help we can get." He explains to Raia that he'll need a couple of days to plan the next raid on the boss and that I'll be watching her for the time being. After saying their goodbyes she runs to my side, "where we going boss," I sneer, "don't call me that, I think we're gonna level you up so you can join the raid." She looks at me, " Diavel wants you to look after me, I don't think he'll be happy to let me go," " If your a high enough level he can't say no right?" She smiles and nods, and with that we make it to the wide open fields with enough day light to level her up at least once. Pulling my sword from my back we run into the quickly emptying fields as more and more kill the wild animals.

**Side B: **

We made it out of the dungeon with one casualty, as soon as we make it out the doors I slump over on the wall, Ben follows suit. We remained in silence as the other regroup themselves, " Man that wasn't suppose to go down like that," one says. " We're coming back soon to take him down," Diavel, the unofficial leader of the raid tells the group. People begin to head back to town, we stay a bit longer, " we should get going." Ben breaks the silence, I move my head up and down. " I didn't like him, I made fun of him, he was a jerk, but now he's gone Ben, he's not coming back," Ben doesn't stop walking. " I know Akira," first time he's called me that name, " but for now we should focus on living," he tells me. He's right, we can't break down now, people die here everyday , just because we know someone in real life doesn't mean they're safe, same goes for us, we could die at any moment. " Any sign of weakness and the game will kill us, we can't afford to be overconfident, we find Zach and we survive," Ben pauses, " assuming he's not dead."

We made to Tolbana's town square just after the rest of the group, I see Diavel taking a boy with a familiar blond head away from the group. I'm about to investigate before one of Wildstar's guildmates intercept me, " What'd he say, I mean when he was charging to the boss, why'd he do it?" It's almost like he genuinely cares, " he was trying to show off," I walk off, Diavel no longer in my line of sight. Just as I leave the town center Ben rushes to me, "they're thinking they'll try it again, they think say he's the boss that prevents travel to the second level." I turn to face him, " we'll be there," and I continue walking, he grins and goes to tell the others.

I hear Ben walk back into the hotel room late into the night, "where were you?" he sits on his bed. " There was a bit of a meeting, decided I should go," he explains as he begins to rest his head on the pillow. " So we aren't gonna talk?" I ask as I lay on my bed as well, he rolls over and looks at me, " I didn't like the kid, I didn't want him to die and he did, what else can we say, it's his fault." He motions his hand as if to say ' your turn,' I roll over to face the wall, "getting my own room next time."

**Side A: **

She's not bad at fighting, I'll give her that,maybe at the level of most of players I've seen, " I think we best be going Raia." " Alright boss!" she's doing to annoy me now. " Hey you can either stop calling me 'boss' or stay out on the streets tonight," she looks at me and winks, "eye eye captain." We laugh, " I hate you so much," I declare, " oh but the look on your face was priceless,totally worth it," she barely makes out through the laughter. I guess it isn't that funny but with all the tension because of the whole 'deathgame thing' anything would bring a smile to my face. We head off into the small restaurant to eat dinner, " so is this what your like, like really like," she inquires , taking a bite from her bun " well I guess I'm not that different," I pause, "truthfully I think I'm more focused here, in real life I say things that don't quite make sense, and fall asleep in places I shouldn't." I take a sip from my water, she begins to open her mouth, " well here I think you're maybe a little cool," that's the biggest compliment I've gotten here. " You're pretty alright too," she puts her bun down, "that is no way to talk to a lady, didn't your parents teach you better?" " Alright, Alright you're just dandy too," I tell her as I finish my water off, "you're not very good at compliments are you?" Question hour, Yippee, " no, not really, lemme try again," I stare up into the roof, " you're the best partner I've had here." Raia cracks a smile, she obviously doesn't know that Wildstar wasn't the best partner" really?" she asks, before I can answer she collects herself, " that's much better ."

We enter our separate rooms after we finish eating, " night Takuto." I hear as she begins to close the door, stopping just shy of shutting it completely, waiting for me to return the goodnight, which I do " sleep tight," and then the door shuts. I get into the only bed the room has, "third week will be ending soon." That means in another month it'll be Christmas, a holiday I'll miss with the family, "wonder if there'll be a event," I say aloud attempting to shoot that thought out of my head, it didn't work.

I wake up in a start, there's rain hitting my window, lightning flashes illuminate the dark room, my older brother would come and stay in my room, during storms when we were kids. " I wonder what he's doing right now," I ask myself. Then there's a knock at my door, I get up and open it, "what's up?" It's someone I don't know, I may have seen him out of the city but I can't place him. " We need to talk, meet me in the lobby," I eye him, wondering what he wants with me. " Sure be right down," he nods, I can see his eyes, his hood covers them completely. I close the door and equip my sword, just to be safe , not sure what he can do to me in the inn, or the village for that matter. I check out the hallway, "empty," Raia's door opens slightly I see her eye staring at me, " it'll be fine, go back to bed," I assure her and the door closes as I walk down the stairs. He's sitting in one of the lobby's chairs, the room's void of players, save for him and I. He looks at me, " sit down."

**Side B: **

I get up and Ben's still asleep, it's still been storming all night but it looks like that could be changing. " There's a meeting later today," I remember a player telling me that last night, it should be taking place in three hours. " Hey Ben?" I shout to the other side of the room, no answer, " 'kay I'm going out," I hear his voice mumble something into his pillow. I make my way down the stairs and there's a large amount of people in the lobby. " What's going on," I say to myself, " a lot of people have come from the town of beginnings to help with that raid, this is the most convenient inn out of the ones in Tolbana," a player with brown hair explains. " Happy I got my room early," I say under my breath as I open the door. Walking out into the fields, they're all but empty, " we're gonna need to get past the boss at our current level." I'm at level twelve, Ben's made it to double digits, and the boss took out a level 7 in one blow, that doesn't bode well for us, even if we aren't total idiots.

Walking through the damp streets, after deciding the fields simply weren't worth it, proves to be even less fruitful. I've ate up forty minutes walking back and forth, doing next to nothing, that is until, I catch a player yelling in the streets. " Help, oh please someone help!" that's suspicious, I start walking over to him and then he runs into me, falling backward. " Whats going on?" he looks up from his seat on the ground , "someone killed my party out in the fields." I lean over him, "like a player?" he quickly nods, " I barely made it back to the city in time." No way, there's already people killing other people, he gets up and grabs me by my collar, " hey get off." He lets go, "they said we have to stay out of their hunting territory, when we said no they attacked." So there's people sectioning pieces of land, lashing out at people who don't keep away, this definitely isn't good. " Go tell the guards," I bark, he walks away tail between his legs. I look to the ground, I could try and help this situation, or...

**Side A: **

I take the seat across from him, "what do you want?" he smiles, he's done a lot of that, " I've heard you're training the self proclaimed knight's sister." I nod my head, "you're a member of one of those smaller guilds, right?" He giggles, " ex-member, so you're not that far off," I smirk, " dressed like that it wasn't that hard," he's clad in their symbols. He breaks out into laughter, "yeah I guess you're right," yeah, this guy doesn't seem well. " Well what do you want with me?" I ask for the third time, he continues to giggle, "right right," he stops to catch his breath. " I'm here to purpose a, hmmm, a deal," I raise a eye and lean back in my chair. " Diavel isn't the biggest fan of my new guild, and we want to go to the boss raid," Diavel should want all the help he can get, why would he reject these guys? "And you, you want to train his sister, but the number of monsters out there isn't in your favor," that's true. " But my guild has sectioned off a part of the map just for us, and we'll let you hunt there with your friend," I furrow my brow. " And how does one 'section off a piece of land in the open fields," I ask sitting upright, he cracks up again. "Oh you're so serious, I saw you playing nice with the sister just a few hours ago," I lean in closer as he finishes, "watching me, and avoiding the question?" He wildly chuckles, " well we don't officially own the land, but people stay away... usually," and with that he has to catch his breath yet again. This isn't the kind of person I want to make deals with, " and when they don't stay away?" As soon as I pose the question the room fills with laughter, " yeah, haha, this isn't,haha, gonna happen is it?" Then silence, broken first by the thunder outside, "no sorry," I answer. He moves his head in a way his eyes make it through the hood, "then I am truly sorry." It seems that as soon as I blink he's already exiting the inn, "creepy." I make my way back upstairs, in my room I look out the window, lightning fills the street with light, and for a second I think he's looking straight at me from the alley.

**Side-**

_" Did he go for it," " hehe, nope," " just as well, plan B then," "heheHaHaHaHa,best news I've heard all day!"_

**B**

Ben's snores fill the room, " Ben!" I yell as I stomp my foot on his head, he wakes up after that, "whaaa?!" still not fully awake. " We're gonna go fight some players," he scratches his head, "why?" I move closer to his face, fire in my eyes, " there's a guild going around killing people that invade 'their territory'." Ben gets up, pillow sticking to his face, " yeah huh," he mutters before falling back over, I rob him of his bedding, " C'mon, you're helping!" Ben and I finally got out of the inn after I fully woke him up, we went to go talk to the guards. " So why are we helping, I thought we 'have own own things to worry about'," I look at Ben, " people are dying, I think that's the sort of stuff you help with." He waves off my semi-serious tone, " sure sure," what exactly does he mean, am I not the sort of person to do things for people. Yet again he starts to speak, " why are they keeping the land preserved, if they're strong enough to take other players out they shouldn't need anymore experience." It's actually not a stupid question, in fact, " I was thinking the same thing, and I think I've got a idea." I pause as some younger players run past us," I think they're gonna extort players for hunting privileges, they could really ask for anything, XP being as rare as it is." Ben nods, I guess he understands, " that makes sense, I can't really think of another reason."

We got to the guard barracks and the guy who ran into me is waiting at a desk, I walk up to him, " s'up?" He looks up to me, "oh hey, why're you here?" he asks me, I don't answer, " show me on the map were those PK-er's are." He follows my order, " you two going over there?" Ben nods, he stands up, " let me come!" I raise a eye brow, " uh how 'bout no?" he looks to Ben, " please?" the kid has puppy dog eyes,this is revolting. Ben then looks to me, " maybe we should, we could use all the help we can get." I think about it,I don't know this kid, but in the end I know Ben's right, " fine but don't get in our way." I begin to walk away and I swear I hear Ben call me a not-so-nice word, but they both follow me, " the names Jun by the way." I open the door and see that the rains finally stopped, a ways down the street I hear some kids splashing in puddles. " Yeah, we should get going now, before more people start dying" I tell the other two, walking towards the gates.

Jun tells us that the area they're guarding is thickly forested, rare in the plains, ripe with monsters and that was why his friends and he were there. " You said they killed two right?" Ben asks, " yeah out of now where, they paralyzed us, then they started cutting them." " Hmm," the sound escapes my mouth, " what was that Akira?" I huff, " oh nothing." As we get closer I get to asking myself how he escaped, unless you're holding one it's hard to get out a heal crystal, they could've been murdering the other two.

" Hey Jun, how many people should we be expecting?" he starts to laugh, and abruptly stops, " oh sorry there was maybe seven of them, but they said there was more of them coming." Ben and Jun continue to talk, I send a look towards Ben attempting to mentally transmit a " be careful," I don't think he receives it the way I planned. When we made it to the medium sized forest I ask Jun if this is it, " yep this is it," he tells me, rather chipper if you ask me.

**Side A: **

Yet again I wake up to a knock at my door, I get up from bed, the rain stopped, " yeah , I'll be right there!" I turn the knob expecting Raia whining about me sleeping in, what I find is a surprise. It's a tall girl, still not taller than me, but a change from the loli-like proportions of Raia. " I'm coming in," she informs me, pushing me from the door way, " alright, yeah sure, come on in, we are super great friends and all." She sits in the chair next to the desk, " so who're you?" I ask, idly straightening a painting from the wall, not quite sure what to do. " My name is Yumi," I turn away from the painting after making it worse, " and why are you here?" She sits very, hmm, like my rich aunt, back straight with her hands on her thighs, " last night I got a voice message from a complete stranger." She goes on, telling me that the message told her of two of my friends,who were looking for me last week. That those two friends are going to die if I don't help them out with Diavel, it's the guild whose member I met last night. " Why'd you come, it shouldn't matter to you?" I ask, " I came because those people are preventing my men from gaining experience, I'm a general of the Holy Dragon Alliance, not only that but they've trapped a good number of my men." So a general of a major guild waltzes into my inn room, "but why come to me, you should be able to take them, being a large power in the game and all." She nods, " we want you to go into the forest first, you'll be able to call out their leader, then we'll come and back you up." I find myself furrowing my brows, I hope that doesn't become a habit, " why would they send the message to you, they must know your capable of planning something like this." Yumi almost breaks her stone-like composure, " w-we have been in contact for a while now, attempting to make a deal for our members."

I relax my forehead from the stern expression that it previously held, " so what you're saying is," "we're betraying them," she finishes my sentence for me. " There's one thing," I say, " how do I know if you aren't tricking me into going into the forest with Raia so they can blackmail Diavel?" This time her composure does break and she moves one of her arms to hold the other, pushing her breasts up. " That, that may have been a plan I threw out, however we consider it to be better if we take out the leader instead of sacrificing you for our people." I open my my menu to put my gear on, " well then I'll help you out, so long as I get to bleat another day." Yumi gives me a quizzical look, " like a lamb, lambs bleat , you said you were gonna sacrifice me, ha, ha he ha," I get quieter as I go, she is not amused.

**Side B:**

Zach once told me this joke, there's two hunters walking in a forest and one of them just suddenly drops, and there's more to the joke but I find that only the set up applies to whats about to happen.

" How much further," Ben whines, hes not really expecting a answer, having it been his fifth time asking the question. Jun laughs only to cut himself off again, " yeah this is far enough I think," he raise his arms laughing horrifically , as two players dressed in black slash as us, I attempt to pull my sword out, but I can't. " Paralyze poison," I grunt as my face hits the ground, " correct my friend!"Jun rolls me over. " Now Ben, I wasn't worried about he's a little too trusting of the weak, but you Akira, you I was concerned about," he pauses to laugh. " Asking all those questions, I knew you didn't trust me, but to think you'd put two and two together, of course you didn't say anything, I wonder why?" He kicks some dirt in my face and walks away, " guess it doesn't matter much." Ben manages to roll off his face all by himself, " What're you planning Jun?", Jun starts to laugh, I decide it's best to answer Ben's question " well Ben he's obviously planning to kill us." I can feel Ben roll his eyes, " really sarcasm now?" Jun starts to giggle, " that's half, you see a little birdie told me that you two were looking for a friend, well it turns that friend just happens to know the great knight Diavel." He continues to explain his plan in full, how right now Zach's probably on his way to trade for us. " Why do you need Diavel to co-operate with you so bad?" Ben yells out. Jun starts to chuckle at the question, " because boys, we want support from our oh so fearless leader, we want him to tell of of Aincrad that we should be feared!" Well somebody totally snapped, " you're actually really screwed up," I notify him, he yet again breaks into laughter. " I know that , but why fight the madness, we're all gonna die anyway, and guess what one of you is gonna be next, I do only have need of one of you," he plays a quick game of eeny meeny miny moe, and his finger lands on me. " Oh look at that Akira, looks like you'll be the one to fall," he walks slowly up to me. I think of my life up to this point, as he continues his journey, licking his blade as he takes steps towards my motionless body. " Any last words?" he asks I start to studder, I'm not ready to die, I'm a teenager, I have my whole life ahead of me, I've never gotten drunk, I don't have my own car, I've never even ridden a horse. A horse I hear trotting up towards the clearing in the forest, atop it, a very flustered Zach. " I'm here for the trade," he lightly announces, then the horse shakes him off and he falls on his face, Ben decides to speak, "our hero," sarcastically, very sarcastically.


End file.
